Md. Abdul Based Panchagarh Correspondent: Thousands of families are facing extreme hardship every day due to severe drinking water crisis in several areas of Tentulia, Panchagarh. Today, Wednesday, during a field visit and conversation with the affected people, it was learned that the Mahananda river, a mountain stream, has re-entered India from the border of about 20 kilometers from Tentulia Old Market to Jharuapara in Banglabandha. India built a dam at a place called Phulbari in the 1990s upstream of this stream and diverted the river’s water. India initially had some water flow in the river after the dam was built. But gradually, India completely stopped the flow of water downstream in the Mahananda river. Since then, the Mahananda River has become a dead end. The lack of water flow in the river has had an adverse impact on the quality of life and nature of the people in the 20-kilometer area near the Bangladesh border. After the Mahananda River dried up due to artificial reasons, when the water level dropped below two decades, water did not rise in tube wells, pressure tanks, and ordinary motor pumps in an area of about one kilometer adjacent to the river. As a result, there has been an extreme crisis of clean water in the area. The areas facing a water crisis are Tentulia Old Bazaar, Siddiknagar, Eidgabasti, Sahebjot (Dangibasti), Mominpara, Telipara, Magura, Uttar Dorjipara, Jharuapara, Kashimgaj, Sipaipara, Sanyasipara. Earlier, in those areas, a lot of water could be obtained by drilling 55 to 70 feet of tube wells. Now, even after installing 100-120 feet of tube wells, water does not rise properly in ordinary pumps. In this case, only the families who have installed submersible pumps are getting water.
Mosharraf Hossain, president of the Siddiknagar Shelter Project in Tentulia Sadar, said, about 1,500 families in our area are facing extreme hardships in carrying out their daily activities without drinking water. The people of these families are bringing water from the houses of those in the area who have submersible pumps. Numerous ordinary families like Rajib, A: Aziz, Maqbulam, Touhidul, Hosne Ara, Arsheda are suffering from a shortage of drinking water. They demand that the government should install deep tube wells in the area and provide drinking water.
Abbas Ali, an elected Union Parishad member of this area, said, “Since the construction of the dam upstream of the Mahananda River, water has not been coming up in the tube wells in these areas. The ponds and canals in the area have also dried up. As the groundwater level has dropped, about two thousand families in the area adjacent to the river are living in extreme hardship due to the lack of drinking water. If a large number of families are provided with good drinking water by installing deep tube wells on an area-based basis by the government, this public problem will be alleviated.
Mithun Kumar Roy, Deputy Assistant Engineer of Tentulia Upazila Public Health Department, said that the primary water level has gone down due to excessive misuse of groundwater. Due to which water does not rise in the high pressure plants/tube wells in the dry season. We have surveyed the said areas and informed the elevation authority.
Md. Minhazur Rahman, District Executive Engineer of Panchagarh District Public Health Department, said that this problem is happening in the river basin areas. This problem has been causing water problems in some areas of Tentulia, Panchagarh Sadar and Debiganj during the drought season last year. The matter has been reported to the head office. A project called “Tara Pump” is coming in the future. Tara pumps will be installed in the problem areas. In addition, a proposal has been sent for the installation of deep tube wells according to the community base. Hopefully, this problem will be resolved if the proposed projects are allocated.
